Illuminated sign unit



Aug. 2, 1938. G. H. PEEBLES ILLUMINATED SIGN UNIT Filed Oct. 11, 1937 l N V E N TO R George Hen/y Peeb/es. BY

ATTO R N EY Patented Aug. 2, 1938 ILLUMINATED SIGN UNIT George Henry Peebles, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application October 11, 1937, Serial No. 168,466

' 6 Claims.

pact construction having a relatively large display area.

Another object is the provision of an illuminated sign unit capable of producing a variety of displays without altering its construction.

A further object isv the provision of an illuminated sign unit in which the display material stands out clearly and presents a striking appearance. c

A still further object is the provision of an illuminated sign unit a number of which may be combined to provide an enlarged sign of any desired shape.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists essentially of a casing including means for removably retaining one or more types of interchangeable indicia such as letters, numerals, figures, characters or thelike, means for illuminating the in-dicia in such a way as to make them stand out in a most attractive manner, and means through which the whole colour effect of the sign may be altered without disturbing the indicia, as more fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of one type of illuminated display unit with certain parts broken away toshow the interior thereof,

Figure 2 is a transverse, sectional view of the unit shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse, sectional view of an alternative form of sign unit,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one type of indicia adapted to be used with this sign, and

Figure 5 is a plan view of a series of illuminated sign units combined to form anenlarged sign,

illustrating units of three different shapes.

. Referring more particularly to the formof the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, H) is a casing having a bottom H, a curved front wall l2 and a rear wall I3. The casing i0 is formed with a vertical extension M at the rear thereof, said extension having a front wall I5 and a central partition l6 extending from one side to the other of the extension dividing said extension into twocompartments. A support ll mounted on the upper edge of the partition I6, is iormed with a channel [8, and a support '23, secured to the wall l3 adjacent the top thereof, is spaced from said wall toform a channel 2i, said channels each extending the full width of the vertical extension of the casing ID. A transparent or translucent panel 22 is removably mounted in any suitable manner on the top of the casing 10 and similar transparent or translucent panels 23 and 24 are removably mounted in any suitable manner on the top of the vertical extension l4 on each side of the support ll.

A panel 25 formed of relatively soft material, such as wall board or the like, is secured tothe outer surface of the wall l5 above the casing l0 and a, panel 26 formed of similar material is adapted to be removably mounted in the channel 2! of the support 20.

The lighting means for the sign unit is preferably a plurality of tubular lighting units independently connected so that each unit may be turned on or off as desired. A set of lighting tubes 21 and 28 is mounted on a base 29 in the casing Ill beneath the panel 22 with abaille'30 between said tubes. This baflle is formed with deflectors 3| and 32 adapted to aid in directing the rays of light from the tubes through the panel. Similarly, a set of lighting tubes 33 and '34 is mounted on a base 35 in the vertical extension l4 immediately beneath the panel 23 with a bafiie 36 between said tubes, said bafile being formed with deflectors 31 and 38, and a lighting tube 39 is mounted on a base 40 in said extension im-' mediat'ely beneath the panel 24.

As stated above, the indicia to be displayed in the illuminated sign unit may be letters, numerals, figures, characters or the like. Letters have been shown in the drawings by way of ex-' ample but it is to be understood that the other indicia will be mounted in a similar manner. Any desired combination of. letters 4|, commonly known as track letters, having bases 42 may be removably mounted in the channel 18 of the support [1 and letters 43, commonly known as pin letters, may be removably mounted on the panels 25 and 26 by means of pins 44. If desired, a strip of relatively soft material 45 (see Fig. 4) may be set in the channel IS in place of the letters 4| and letters 46 may be mounted thereon by means of pins 41 extending downwardly from the bases of 'the letters.

The whole interior of the sign unit, the lighting tubes 21, 28, 33 and 34 and 39 and the panels=22', 23 and 24 may be painted any desired colour or combination of colours. The light rays from'the tubes 21 and 28 pass upwardly through the panel 22 on to the indicia 43 mounted on the panel 25, the light rays from the tubes 33 and 34 pass upwardly through the panel 23 on to the fronts of the indicia 4| and the light rays from the tube 39 pass through the panel 24 on to the indicia 43 on the panel 26 and on to the backs of the indicia 4|. Any one of the light tubes or any combination of them may be used at one time to secure various lighting effects in the unit. For example, the tube 39 might be turned off so that the indicia 4| would cast shadows on the panel 26 or the tubes 33 and 34 might be turned off with the result that said indicia 4| would be illuminated from the back only. The colour effect of the whole sign unit may be changed without disturbing the display by merely substituting panels of different colours for the panels 22, 23 and/or 24 in the device and/or substituting different coloured lighting tubes for those in use at the time.

The deflector 3| of the baffle 30 directs the light rays from the tube 2'! on to the lower portions of the indicia 43 while the deflector 32 directs the light from the tube 28 on to the upper portions of said indicia. Similarly, the deflector 31 of the bafile 36 directs the light rays from the tube 33 on to the lower portions of the indicia 4| while the deflector 38 directs the light rays from the tube 34 on to the upper portions of said indicia.

If desired the above described sign unit may be terminated at the partition l6 or, in other words, the wall I3, the tube 39 and its mountings, and the panel 26 and its mountings may be omitted. In this case only the indicia 43 mounted on the panel 25 and theindicia 4| would beused. When the strip 45 is placed in the channel l8 and the indicia 46 are used, the latter may be set at varying angles to each other to produce different effects. When desired, flasher plugs may be used with the lighting tubes to obtain further variations of lighting and colours. Suitable indicia may be placed on the panels 22, 23 and 24 thus again increasing the display value of the unit.

Referring tothe form of the invention shown in Figure 3, the casing It has the bottom curved front wall l2 and a panel 22 in the top thereof but it is not formed with a vertical extension. Lighting tubes 21 and 28 along with the ballle 30 .are mounted in the casing H3 in the same manner as in the above described form of the invention. This casingv is formed with a rear wall|l and with a partition 5| spaced from said rear wall to form therebetween a channel 52 adapted to receive a panel 53 formed of relatively soft material, such as wall board or the like. A support 54 mounted on the upper edge of the partition 5| is provided with a channel 55 extending from side to side of the casing Hi. This channel is adapted removably to retain indicia 4| and the panel 53 is adapted to have seccured thereto indicia 43. With this construction, the light rays from the tubes 21 and 28 pass upwardly through the panel 22 on to the indicia 4| and 43. The indicia 4| may be removed and the panel 53 left alone or vice versa and the lighting tubes may be used singly or together. Various colour combinations and effects may be obtained just as in-the first described modification of the invention. Also, if desired, the strip 45 may be placed in the channel 55 and the indicia 46 used.

Figure 5 illustrates how a number of the sign units of either form of the invention may be placed end to end to forman enlarged sign of any desired shape, This figure shows straight sign units along with two units of different degrees of ourvature.

The above described sign units are very compact and simple in construction, and yet they offer a relatively large display area with infinite possibilities as to colour combinations and effects.

Various modifications may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims, and therefore the exact forms shown are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense, and it is desired that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are disclosed in the prior art or are set forth in the accompanying claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An illuminated sign unit comprising a cas ing, means in the top of the casing adapted removably to retain suitable indicia, a panel mounted in the casing adjacent the rear thereof and projecting upwardly therefrom, said panel being adapted to have secured thereto additional indicia, a plurality of lighting tubes mounted in the casing, means for directing the light rays from at least one tube to the lower portions of the indicia, and means for directing the light rays from at least one other tube to the upper portions of said indicia.

2. An illuminated sign unit comprising a casing, a translucent panel removably mounted in the top of the casing, a support in the top of the casing having a channel therein adapted removably to retain suitable indicia, a panel formed of relatively soft material removably mounted in the casing adjacent the rear thereof and projecting upwardly therefrom, said panel being adapted to have additional indicia removably secured thereto, a plurality of lighting tubes mounted in the casing, at least one baffle mounted between said tubes, a deflector formed with the bafile for directing the light rays from at least one tube to the lower portions of the indicia and another deflector formed with the bafiie for directing the light rays from at least one other tube to the upper portions of said indicia.

3. An illuminated sign unit comprising a casing, a vertical extension formed at the rear of the casing, translucent panels mounted in the tops of the casing and the extension, a support mounted at the top of the extension having a channel therein adapted removably to retain suit-. able indicia, a panel formed of relatively soft material mounted on the front wall of the vertical extension above the casing, said last mentioned panel being adapted to have secured thereto additional indicia, and lighting means in both the easing and the extension from which light rays pass upwardly through their respective translucent panels to illuminate the indicia.

4. An illuminated sign unit comprising a casing, a vertical extension formed at the rear of the casing, a support mounted at the top of the extension having a channel formed therein adapted removably to retain suitable indicia, a panel formed of relatively soft material mounted on the front wall of the vertical extension above the casing, said panel being adapted to have additional indicia removably secured thereto, a set of lighting tubes mounted in the casing, and a set of lighting tubes mounted in the extension, each set of tubes having a baffle mounted therein with a deflector for directing the light rays from at least one tube to the lower portions of the indicia immediately above that set of tubes and another deflector for directing light rays from at least one other tube to the upper portions of said indicia.

5. An illuminated sign unit comprising a casing, a vertical extension formed at the rear of the casing, a central partition dividing the extension into two compartments, a support mounted on the top of the partition having a channel formed therein adapted removably to retain suitable indicia, a panel of relatively soft material mounted on the front wall of the vertical extension above the casing, a support mounted at the back of the vertical extension adjacent the top thereof having a channel formed therein, a panel formed of relatively soft material removably mounted in said last mentioned channel behind the above mentioned indicia, each of said panels being adapted to have additional indicia removably secured thereto, at least one lighting tube mounted in the extension between the central partition and the back of said extension, a set of lighting tubes mounted in the extension between the central partition and the front of said extension, and a set of lighting tubes mounted in the casing, each set of tubes having a bafile mounted therein with a deflector for directing the light rays from at least one tube to the lower portions of the indicia immediately above that set oftubes and another deflector for directing light rays from at least one other tube to the upper portions of said indicia.

6. An illuminated sign unit comprising a casing, a partition spaced from the rear wall of the casing forming a channel therebetween, a panel of relatively soft material removably mounted in said channel, said panel being adapted to have suitable indicia secured thereto, a support mounted on the top of the partition having a channel formed therein adapted removably to retain suitable indicia, a set of lighting tubes mounted in the casing, a bafile mounted in the set of tubes having a deflector for directing the light rays from at least one tube to the lower portions of the indicia and another deflector for directing the light rays from at least one other tube to the upper portions of said. indicia.

GEORGE HEN RY PEEBLES. 

